Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked for faster actions to cope with climate change and realize the country’s commitments to emission reduction while chairing the fifth meeting of the National Steering Committee for implementing Vietnam’s commitments at the COP26 held in Hanoi on October 2.

PM Chinh, who doubles as head of the committee, stressed that the meeting is taking place when the whole country is striving to deal with the aftermaths of Typhoon Yagi together with increasingly complicated climate changes and natural disasters which have left serious consequences.

Following the COP26, Vietnam set up the steering committee, which has seen positive results from its operations. Vietnam’s international commitments have been made into laws, while action programs, projects, and proposals to implement Vietnam’s commitments at the COP26 have been developed and carried out, PM Chinh said.

He stressed the need to mobilize all resources, the engagement of the whole society and the whole people, and promote international cooperation for the implementation of the country’s commitments.

He asked members of the steering committee to evaluate the progress of the implementation of Vietnam’s commitments at COP26, thus identifying  difficulties and challenges and reasons behind shortcomings, and proposing solutions to ensure the country’s better performance of the work, especially in adjusting the legal framework to facilitate investment in energy transition.

According to the steering committee, after its fourth meeting, many mechanisms, policies, strategies, planning, plans, and specific projects have been developed with an aim to realize Vietnam’s commitments at the COP26.

The Government has submitted to the National Assembly for approval the National Marine Spatial Planning, while issuing a decree on direct power purchase agreement (DPPA), adjustments to the average retail electricity price and the electricity price framework, and encouraging rooftop solar power development.

The PM has approved the hydrogen energy development strategy, national energy development strategy, automobile industry development strategy, and national energy development master plan, among others, along with lists of major national energy programs and projects.

Domestic and international banks in Vietnam have accompanied the Vietnamese Government in the work by actively participating in implementing many services and products along with green credit packages and green loans to serve green transformation and just energy transition.

The implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) has been accelerated. A plan to mobilize resources to implement JETP was announced by the PM at the COP28, proposing 37 investment projects already included in programs and planning, 181 investment projects to call for funding, 61 technical assistance projects/project groups proposed by domestic and international partners, and 10 project idea groups proposed by the IPG Group and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ).